EF1-hspCas9-H1-gRNA SmartNuclease vector

Genome engineering with CRISPR/Cas9

For general guidance on using CRISPR/Cas9 technology for genome engineering, take a look at our CRISPR/Cas9 tutorials as well as the following application notes:

CRISPR/Cas9 Gene Knock-Out Application Note (PDF) »
CRISPR/Cas9 Gene Editing Application Note (PDF) »
CRISPR/Cas9 Gene Tagging Application Note (PDF) »

CRISPR/Cas9 Basics

Through careful selection of the target sequence and design of a donor plasmid for homologous
recombination, you can achieve efficient and highly targeted genomic modification with CRISPR/Cas9.

The system

Figure 1. The All-in-one Cas9 Null Nuclease Vector shows no genome editing activity. We compared the activity of wild-type Cas9 (EF1α-hspCas9-H1-gRNA All-in-one SmartNuclease Plasmid, Cat.# CAS900A-1), Cas9 SmartNickase (EF1α-hspCas9-nickase-H1-gRNA All-in-one SmartNickase Plasmid, Cat.# CAS800A-1), and Cas9 Null Nuclease (EF1α-hspCas9-DM-H1-gRNA All-in-one Cas9 Null Nuclease Plasmid, Cat.# CAS805A-1) to insert a GFP reporter at the AAVS1 site through the use of AAVS1-targeting gRNA and an AAVS1-targeting HR Targeting Vector (AAVS1 Safe Harbor cDNA/miRNA Targeting HR Donor Vector (pAAVS1D-PGK-MCS-EF1α-copGFPpuro), Cat.# GE602A-1).
(Left panel) Fluorescence (left-most column) and bright field (right-most column) microscopy showing that both Cas9 SmartNuclease (top set) and Cas9 SmartNickase (middle set) are able to insert GFP into the genome, whereas the Cas9 Null Nuclease is not (bottom set).
(Right panel) A Surveyor Nuclease Assay corroborates the lack of genome editing capabilities of the Cas9 Null Nuclease. The lack of cleavage seen in the SmartNickase lane is likely due to the lower frequency of GFP insertion.